Don’t make eye contact.

When I was in the fifth grade, I traveled to Washington D.C. with my school gifted program. I remember it being cold, rainy, and windy. I remember being easily bored by the never-ending tours. And I remember a man that stood on the steps of the Capitol Building. He was old, dirty, and held a cardboard sign asking for food or money. This image was burned in my mind.

This revelation hit me like a ton of bricks. It went so far beyond this one woman on the street. This mentality is how we so often deal with the injustices of the world. Out of sight, out of mind. Ignorance is bliss, right? And so we do just that. We refuse to make eye contact. We turn the channel when a “Feed the Children” informercial comes on. We try to avoid hearing the horrific stories about the genocide in Darfur. I know I can think of plenty more examples of which I’m guilty.

Like I said, the trouble starts when you make eye contact. When you gaze into their eyes, you’re acknowledging their presence.

You’re acknowledging their need. This is dangerous for two main reasons. The first response is the feeling of helplessness. You see the need, but you feel as though there’s nothing you can do to change it. And in many cases, there’s not. We’ve met children that have been abandoned. You’ve heard my stories about our friends from Northern Uganda that were traumatized by the war. We’ve seen people who are so physically disabled that they can’t do a single thing by themselves. Hungry people. Hurting people. Lonely people. Hopeless people. And so often that makes me feel hopeless as well.